THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE OF MARTIN LUTHER

DECEMBER 6, 2016
DREW DIXON

When leading his first mass, the young monk came to the words of offering and froze with

fear. He later described his experience, At these words I was utterly stupefied and terror-stricken. I

thought to myself, With what tongue shall I address such Majesty? For I am dust and ashes and

full of sin and I am speaking to the living, eternal and the true God.1 Stupefied and trembling is not

how this man is usually remembered. Rather, he has been called an ogre, a wild boar, a renegade, a

champion, and a reformer2 and he is usually depicted with a hammer in one hand and a scroll in the

other, standing in a confident defiance on the Wittenberg church steps.

Martin Luther, the remarkably strong-headed reformer, was a great theologian, but his

theology was rooted in a deep spirituality that is too often left out of his story. The theologian-

reformer must not be separated from the trembling worshipper. Bengt Hoffman asserts, The

experiential played a major role in the theology of the Reformer.3 This paper will explore the

scholars and mystics of the Middle Ages to gain insight in the thought and spirituality from which

Luther emerged. Ultimately, Luthers theological transformation will be interpreted as a result of his

spiritual experience. It was the sweet harmony that his experience had with the thought of the day

that led Luther toward the Reformation.

THE MILIEU OF THOUGHT

1 Roland Herbert Bainton, Here I stand: a life of Martin Luther (New York: Meridian, 1977).

2 Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: The Reformation to the Present Day, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (New York:

HarperOne, 2010), 19.

3Bengt Runo Hoffman, Theology of the Heart: The Role of Mysticism in the Theology of Martin Luther, ed. Pearl
Willemssen Hoffman (Minneapolis, Minn: Kirk House, 2003), 20.

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 The Middle Ages are known for the rise of scholasticism as the predominant method for learning.

After Anselm of Canterbury, at the turn of the millennium, established that faith could be supported by

reason and Peter Abelard compiled Yes and No, which placed authorities in contradiction with one another,

the scholastic method would develop in order to resolve such contradictions by using reason. Gonzales

describes the scholastic method in essentially three stages: (1) A debatable questions was posed; (2)

Reasons for answering the question one way or the other on the basis of the authority of scripture or of

an ancient writer; (3) The teacher had to express his own opinion, and to show that this did not

contradict any of the authorities that had been adduced for the opposite view.4 Through this dialectic

process scholars would systematically pose questions, respond with objections, then counter those objections,

until at last an authoritative answer had been reached. Establishing authority was vital to scholasticism. The

primary example of this method is Thomas Aquinas, in the thirteenth century, whos Summa Theologica was

organized by Question-Objection-Reply-Answer in each sectionoften with multiple objections and multiple

replies. One can imagine that the list of questions, objections, and responses could grow rather long

especially after some hundred years of scholars in this tradition posing new questions and with even more

answers. Eventually, scholasticism would grow so specialized and complex that only the most studied could

enter the conversations. This was an intellectual version of the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

Through this complex methodology, scholastics would establish and assert their intellectual authority through

the middle ages.

In the face of such complexity the fourteenth century would bring William of Occam, who is famous

for Occams razor which is a way of shaving off complexity. While early scholasticism became obsessed

with mounting question upon question and objection upon objection in increasing complexity, Occams razor

essentially asserts that the simplest explanation is usually the best one.5 Ultimately, Occam would break out

of the scholastic tradition and his methodology would be called nominalism. Occams nominalism would

4 Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, 2nd ed., vol. 1 (New

York: HarperOne, 2010), 373.

5 Ibid, 434.

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upend two foundational assumptions of scholasticism. First, Gonzales explains, Occam and his followers

reached the conclusion that human natural reason can prove absolutely nothing regarding God or the divine

purposes.6 Second, Oberman explains, the decisive principle and characteristic [for nominalism was that] all

philosophical speculation about the world must be tested by means of experience and reality-based reason,

regardless of what even the most respected authorities might say to the contrary.7 Thus, nominalism altered

the relationship between faith and reason which Anselm had introduced a few hundred years prior while also

dethroning the authorities that had painstakingly asserted themselves through endless explanations and

reasoning. Nominalists called into question the prior assertions of scholasticism and instead relied on

experience for secular knowledge and Scripture for sacred knowledge.8 Nominalism discarded the mountains of

complex conclusions that scholasticism had come to in favor of a return to more primary sources, a method

which came to be known as humanism and was a fundamental characteristic of the Renaissance in the

fifteenth century.9

These centuries were a time of rapid intellectual transition and upheaval which came to question the

intellectual authorities that had reigned. This is the milieu of thought by which Luther would be formed.

THE DEPTH OF SPIRITUALITY

The above section traces the intellectual development of medieval scholasticism and the eventual

departure from it. There was also a spiritual critique of scholasticism. Ozment describes, When scholasticism

had run its course critics returned to patristic and monastic ideals in an effort to revive traditional religious

life both within and beyond universities.10 He explains the spiritual critique of scholasticism, Whereas the

6 Ibid.

Heiko Augustinus Oberman, Luther: Man between God and the Devil, trans. Eileen Walliser-Schwarzbart (New
7

Haven, CT.; London: Yale University Press, 2006), 118.

8 Ibid, 119.

9 Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, 437.

Steven E. Ozment, The age of reform 1250 - 1550: an intellectual and religious history of late medieval and reformation
10

Europe (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, 1980), 73.

3
scholastic program of study proceeded from question to argument, the monastic program moved from

reading to meditative prayer and contemplation.11 As scholasticism became increasingly complex and

centered on the power of the mind, monastic and mystical spirituality became increasingly simple and

centered on the humility of the heart.

Matters of the heart are far more ambiguous to trace than intellectual developments, but Ozment

identifies three kinds of mysticism in the middle ages which can provide a path for understanding the

development of spirituality during this period.12 Before delving into each of these three strands of mysticism,

it may be helpful to briefly find a working definition of mysticism. Because it explores the ambiguous realm

of the heart there is no agreed upon definition, but it may be sufficient to utilize Luthers own definition

which he seems to have borrowed from the twelfth century mystic Bernard of Clairvaux, Mystical theology

is experimental [or experiential] and not doctrinal knowledge.13 Some would argue for a stricter definition of

mysticism, insisting that it must be accompanied by an out-of-body experience to be truly mystical. But this

definition would be more properly termed high mysticism.14 It will suffice for this study to understand

mysticism as the experiential side of Christianity.15

The first kind of mysticism that Ozment identifies is Dionysian mysticism which is rooted in the

writings of Dionysius the Areopagite. Dating back as early as the fifth or sixth century, these writings

emphasize the mysterious unknowable nature of God. Ozment declares, No other medieval theologian

stressed the hiddenness of God, even as revealed in Scripture, more than Dionysius.16 Because of the

mysterious nature of God, Dionysius hesitated to say too much about God. He preferred the via negativa,

11 Ibid, 82.

12 Ibid, 118.

13 Paul Lehninger, On the Cross and in the Cradle: The Mystical Theology of Martin Luther, Logia 6, no. 1
(1997): 6.

14 David G Schmiel, Martin Luthers Relationship to the Mystical Tradition, Concordia Journal 9, no. 2 (March
1983): 46.

15 Lehninger, On the Cross and in the Cradle, 7.

16 Ozment, The age of reform 1250 - 1550, 118.

4
which was the way to God through mystery. Dionysius explains, Leave behind you everything perceived and

understood By an undivided and absolute abandonment of yourself and everything you will be uplifted

to the ray of the divine shadow which is above everything that is.17 Dionysian mysticism is ultimately about

self-abandonment, affirming that God is truly beyond the powers of the mind. This is precisely the opposite

of the scholasticism that would develop several hundred years later.

The second kind of mysticism Ozment identifies as Franciscan mysticism, which is in other places

referred to as Roman mysticism.18 Though it is named for Saint Francis, this strand of mysticism finds its

primary expression in the writings of the thirteenth century mystic, Bonaventure. Ozment explains, The goal

of mystical practice, according to Bonaventure, is the peace that comes from being crucified with Christ.19

He differentiates it from Dionysian mysticism saying that it is Christ-centered rather than God-centered.20

About a century earlier, Bernard of Clairvaux would approach the divine in a similar way. Hamm and Bast

explain that according to Bernard, The way to salvation is that of the ascent of the loving soul, beginning

with the meditative remembrance of the suffering Christ, to the mystic union with the divine Spirit.21

Bonaventure emphasizes the pain of the crucifixion; Bernard emphasizes the love of sacrifice; both

emphasize that the mystical path toward God begins with the sufferings of Christ.

The third kind of medieval mysticism identified by Ozment spread through Germany and England in

the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Although many noteworthy figures emerge from this time, the most

influential is the German Meister Eckhart. Eckharts mysticism is rooted in beginnings. Ozment explains,

When Eckhart pondered his origins he reached all the way back to eternity, to a life he had in God before

17 John R. Tyson, ed., Invitation to Christian spirituality: an ecumenical anthology (New York: Oxford University Press,
1999), 129.

18 Schmiel, Martin Luthers Relationship to the Mystical Tradition, 46.

19 Ozment, The age of reform 1250 - 1550, 121.

20 Ibid.

21 Berndt Hamm and Robert James Bast, The Reformation of Faith in the Context of Late Medieval Theology and Piety:
Essays by Berndt Hamm, Studies in the History of Christian Thought (Leiden: Brill, 2004), 131.

5
the creation of the world and time.22 According to Eckhart, in that beginning humanity was one with God.

This idea is central to Eckharts mysticism and also to his follower, Johannes Tauler, whos writing would be

influential to Luther. Ozment claims, No other mystical thinker stressed more than Eckhart the belief that

man was truly of Gods race and kin a kinship resulting from mans precreated oneness in God.23 The

problem then, is that in creation humanity has grown separated from God and longs always to return. Thus,

Harpur describes, For Eckhart the way of the mystic is founded on the individuals detachment from the

world.24 But Harpur goes on to describe that Eckharts way of detaching from the world was not primarily

through traditional monastic vows such as poverty, solitude, and ritual but was rather oriented toward the

inner person and that whoever truly possesses God in the right way, possess him in all places, in any

company, as well as in a church or a remote place or in their cell.25 Thus, Eckharts vision for mysticism is

universally accessible to anyone who learns to find God in their inner self.

Such a democratic mysticism would spread and potentially threaten the authorities of the day.

Gonzales explains, The mystic movement itself was not opposed to the church nor to its hierarchy [But]

the mystical impulse itself tended to weaken the authority of the hierarchal church itself.26 If God is available

directly through such mystical experiences, then why depend on the church for access to God, especially as

the church was increasingly seen as corrupt?

The three kinds of mysticism in the middle ages supplied a depth of spirituality to the time of Luther.

Dionysian mysticism sought self-abandonment into the mysteries of God; Franciscan mysticism sought sweet

identification with the suffering of Christ; German mysticism sought to rightly possess God in the every day.

Traces from each of these strands of mysticism can be found in Luthers theology and spiritual experience.

22 Ozment, The age of reform 1250 - 1550, 128.

23 Ibid, 129.

24 James Harpur, Love Burning in the Soul, 1st ed (Boston: New Seeds Books, 2005), 99.

25 Ibid, 100.

26 Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. 428.

6
 THE THOUGHT OF LUTHER

After having discussed some of the intellectual milieu and spiritual depths of the middle ages the

discussion will now turn, more specifically, toward what Luther thought of these things. Regarding

scholasticism Luther remarked later in his life, Those sophistical pursuits are completely behind us now

God has wondrously led us away from all that. It is now over twenty years since he snatched me, still

knowing, away.27 Of course, that over twenty years ago that he referred to was the year that he famously

nailed his Ninety Five Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg. Just one month before that climactic

scene, Luther had completed his Disputation Against Scholastic Theology. His journey away from Scholasticism,

and toward the Reformation, had begun long before his formal Disputation or posting of the Theses when he

began his studies at Erfurt. Oberman claims, The philosophers in Erfurts arts faculty had provided him

with concepts that were to become essential to the Reformation.28 It was here that he was trained in

Occams nominalism. Luthers insistence on using Scripture alone and his willingness to critique the academic

authority of the Scholastics as well as the ecclesial authority of the Church undoubtedly found their roots in

his nominalist training.

Yet, it was not only, or even primarily, Luthers philosophical training that led him to oppose the

authorities of his day but also his spiritual training. Luther was familiar with the deep spirituality of the

medieval mystics. Schmiel explains Vogelsangs evaluation of Luthers relationship to each of the three

strands of mysticism discussed above. Vogelsang concludes, Luther clearly rejected Areopagitic mysticism

because it ignored the incarnate and crucified Christ. He praised Roman mysticism because of its emphasis on

the earthly Christ He enthusiastically endorsed German mysticism.29 While Luther clearly preferred the

specifically Christ-centered spirituality of Franciscan or Roman mysticism over the generically God-centered

spirituality of Dionysian or Areopagitic mysticism, it appears that some of the Dionysian impulses would

27 Ozment, The age of reform 1250 - 1550, 232.

28 Oberman, Luther, 120.

29 Schmiel, Martin Luthers Relationship to the Mystical Tradition, 46.

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remain in Luthers theology. Regarding German mysticism, Ozment affirms, [Luther] had only the highest

praise he described Johannes Taulers sermons as pure and solid theology and professed to know no

contemporary work in either Latin or German more beneficial and in closer agreement with the Gospels.30

Though Luther was familiar with and even praised the spirituality of the mystics, that does not mean that he

would have considered himself one. Rather, Schmiel explains, What Luther appreciated in [the German

mystics] was their departure from scholastic methodology, their direct personal piety, and their emphasis on

passive reception of God's grace, self-denial, and willingness to suffer for Christ.31 In other words, it was not

primarily their mystical experience that drew him to them, but rather their example in pious devotion and

their resonance with his post-Scholastic philosophy.

THE EXPERIENCE OF LUTHER

After having discussed the scholars and mystics of the middle ages as well as Luthers evaluation of

them, the discussion will return to Luthers own spiritual experience. It was after completing his Master of

Arts that Luther was caught in that infamous storm and made a vow to enter the monastery if he survived.

Luthers movement from university life, where he grew acquainted with the philosophies of scholasticism and

nominalism, to monastic life marks him as one of the spiritual critics discussed previously. Rather than

remaining in the complexity of the academic scene, Luther seeks peace in the pious disciplines of the

monastery. Although peace would be one of the last things he found. Our opening scene of Luther trembling

before God while leading mass is only one moment of his spiritual fear during this time. Oberman explains,

The upheavals in Luthers soul, which he described as hellish torments, had far-reaching consequences. The

Reformer went his own perilous way, not only as a biblical theologian but also as a psychologically

experienced minister.32 It was during his time as a monk that Luther learned the deepest struggles of his

heart.

30 Ozment, The age of reform 1250 - 1550, 239.

31 Schmiel, Martin Luthers Relationship to the Mystical Tradition, 48.

32 Oberman, Luther, 179.

8
 During this season, Luther was plagued with constant guilt, worry, and fear about his sins. Bainton

explains, He confessed frequently, often daily, and for as long as six hours on a single occasion Luther

would repeat a confession and, to be sure of including everything, would review his entire life until the

confessor grew weary.33 At this time Luther was under the care of Johan von Staupitz, the vicar of the

monastery, of whom Bainton claims, No one better could have been found as a spiritual guide.34 It was

under the guidance of Staupitz that Luther came to realize, There is something much more drastically wrong

with man than any particular list of offenses The whole nature of man needs to be changed.35 It was with

this understanding that Staupitz led Luther into the tradition of the mystics who did not reject the penitential

system [but] their way of salvation was essentially different, directed to man as a whole.36 Luther would

embark upon the mystical way, rather than striving he would surrender himself to Gods love.

But this would prove to be a difficult task for Luther. The fear of Gods judgement would continue

to haunt him and prevent him from resting in Gods love. After attempting this for some time, Luther

realized the worst: He could not love God because in his depths he hated God. This caused Luther even

more distress. After sharing this realization, Staupitz would attempt yet another remedya risky one!

Gonzales recounts, Normally, one would suppose that a priest who was going through such a crisis as

Luthers should not be made a pastor and teacher for others. But that was precisely what his confessor

decided he should be.37 Staupitz sent Luther to get his doctors degree and to begin teaching Bible at the

University of Wittenberg.

At the University of Wittenberg Luther would study and teach the Scriptures. From 1513 to 1517, he

would teach through the book of Psalms, the epistle to the Romans, and the epistle to the Galatians. The

33 Bainton, Here I stand, 41.

34 Ibid, 40.

35 Ibid, 41-42.

36 Ibid, 42.

37 Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: The Reformation to the Present Day, 24.

9
nominalism of his earlier academics and the mystic exposure of his monastery days were no doubt primers

for Luthers theological transformation, but it was this time of deep study of Scripture that proved to be the

catalyst for Luther. This is where he had his most profound spiritual encounter.

When Luther approached the book of Psalms, he was no stranger to them. He would have perhaps

even had many of them memorized from praying them multiple times a day as a part of his former monastic

devotion. It was with this heart that Luther approached the Psalms; not primarily as a scholar, but as a

devoted Christian. Bainton explains that for Luther the book of Psalms was a Christian book foreshadowing

the life and death of the Redeemer.38 The Psalms became meditations on the life and death of Jesus. This

drew Luther toward the central place of the cross. As he encountered the suffering Christ on the cross, his

view of God began to shift. Bainton describes Luthers experience, The contemplation of the cross had

convinced Luther that God is neither malicious nor capricious The All Terrible is the All Merciful too.

Wrath and love fuse upon the cross.39 Through his study of the Psalms and meditation on the cross, Luther

found God finally approachable. It was as though the Psalms, for Luther, were the gateway toward a

Franciscan mysticism whereby divine love became imaginable and accessible.

Luther marveled at the cross of Christ, but he still feared the justice of God. This fear became all the

more pronounced as he approached the epistle to the Romans in which Paul writes thoroughly about Gods

justice. Luther first understood this word to mean Gods enforcement of divine law, as when the judge

pronounces the appropriate sentence.40 Such judgement caused Luther to shudder. But Luther continued his

study of Romans and the tools of humanism came to his aid. Rather than reading in the traditional Latin,

Luther was working with the original Greek. Bainton describes Luthers discovery that the word in Greek has

a double sense.41 While it could mean justice, as in the enforcement of law, it could also mean

38 Bainton, Here I stand, 47.

39 Ibid, 48, 47.

40 Ibid, 49.

41 Ibid.

10
justification, as in acquittal or counting the charge fulfilled. This realization was profound for Luther. He

recalls this experience in his own words:

Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God
and the statement that the just shall live by his faith. Then I grasped that the
justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God
justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone
through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning,
and whereas before the justice of God had filled me with hate, now it became to
me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to
heaven42

In this text, Luther recalls a mysticaleven transcendentexperience. The justification that God freely gave

to Luther enabled him to abandon his sinful self like Dionysian mysticism. Realizing that God counted him

righteous, he felt himself reborn and gone through open doors into paradise like the detachment from

the world in Eckharts mysticism which transforms the inner self. If it was the Psalms that activated a

Franciscan mystical experience, then it was the epistle to the Romans that activated the others. Luthers

gateway to connection with God was Scripture. For the nominalists, experience was the primary source for

knowledge and Scripture was the primary source for knowledge of God. For Luther, the two were fused

together; Scripture was not only his source for knowledge of God but also the place where he experienced

God most profoundly, in a mystical way. Lehninger characterizes Luthers experience, The proclaimed Word

of God plays a central role in Luthers mysticism.43 As Luther himself said, Scripture became a gate to

heaven for him

CONCLUSION

After an overview of the thought and spirituality that preceded Luther it is clear that the time was

ripe for Reformation. In the fourteenth century, the break from Scholasticism and the wave of mysticism led

to a reassessment of authority, a reorientation of what is foundational, and ultimately a Reformation of the

Church and society. As Gonzalez states, The much-needed reformation took place, not because Luther

decided that it would be so, but rather because the time was ripe for it, and because the Reformer and many

42 Ibid, 49-50.

43 Lehninger, On the Cross and in the Cradle, 8.

11
others with him were ready to fulfill their historical responsibility.44 Luther was not the sole activist who

brought about the Reformation, but he was a catalyst whose teaching and leadership shaped much of the

movement. The catalyst for Luther was his fundamentally spiritual experience of the Scriptures which

transformed his agony over sin to freedom from it and his fear of God to a deep love. As children of the

Reformation, protestant and evangelical churches today would do well to remember their heritage which

stems from the spiritual experience of Martin Luther.

44 Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: The Reformation to the Present Day, 21.

12
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